Carvin MTS3200

Features, same as every other one. I like all the features on the back of the amp: impedance switch, half power mode, etc., but I wish it had a 5 or 6 band eq like the old x100b's did and a master volume in addition to the independent volumes. When you switch back and forth between clean and dirty a lot in all your songs it's nice to have a master volume to bring them both up or down the same amount. I'd also really love it if there were a footswitch to bypass the effects loop.

My setup: Ibanez RG3120, Ibanez AS120, Fender Texas Special Strat > Q-Tron, Boss OC-2, Whammy, Crybaby Wah > MTS3200 > Legacy cab w/ V30's. This thing sounds pretty damn good clean and dirty. I play punk/hardcore with some funk and other rock elements mixed in. It does the job. The only knob I can crank all the way is the drive on the dirty channel. I would've liked a little more gain and crunch, but I'm happy with what I've got. The bright switch really livens up the clean channel. This amp sounds great across the spectrum for me. Only stuff I don't play is country. The one complaint I have here is the effects loop. All of my effects sound like crap when played through it. In the manual they mention a "loss of a few db." Well, lose 3 db and you've lost half your output power. So I'm forced to run everything on the front side. Not a major complaint, but why include the feature if it doens't compliment the amp well? I'll knock off one for the overdrive and another for the useless effects loop. I did talk to Carvin about the effects loop and they said it was a problem with mismatched tubes. Hmmm, I wonder who put those tubes in there, could it be the company that made the amp??

I bought this used and it arrived in beautiful cosmetic condition only a year old with the stock tubes, but the dirty channel didn't work. After a few conversations on the phone with Carvin I discovered accidently that one of the preamp tubes wasn't making contact in its socket. They were very helpful, although they didn't actually fix the problem and provided me with a schematic for the amp. They've always been helpful before, it's nice to actually talk to the people that work on the amps, not some dude that works in a guitar shop and doesn't know crap about how the product is made (just about every other guitar company) Would I use it without a backup? Of course not, who would? That's just asking for it. I'll bring my crappy old combo around just in case. I just wish they could fix the effects loop issue. Maybe when I put new tubes in I'll see a difference.

See above

Great amp for the money, clean and dirty. I'm glad I went through with the purchase. To everyone who complains about the overdrive not having enough gain... make sure the preamp tubes are making good contact in their sockets (while the amp is off of course.) It probably could use some more gain, but it doesn't sound bad. I play a lot of hardcore and this does the job. It basically sounds like the clips on the website just not quite as cruncy. It'll do the job until I can afford a Rivera, and I'll still keep it for a sturdy backup then.

Just came today,checked it out tonight with my drummer.It needs to be a lil louder,KT66 tubes perhaps it could be modified?Love the longtailed patented reverb,footswitch nice.100 watts of all tube power,seems a little bit less in my opinion.However the crunch is there if ya know what i mean you'll like it at the very least.FX loop,reverb on/off via footswitch,50/100 watt switch,EL34/6l6 switchable powertubes,some of the very best features in this box-o-crunch

The clean channel is the best i've heard in my 21 years of playing.I am killing a JACKSON DMKG and a ESP LTD Explorer,the jackson has EMGHZ pickups with an adjustable gain boost on it to push the CARVIN even a little harder and the ESP is housed with the SEYMOUR DUNCAN SCREAMIN DEMONS neck and bridge.For cabs i hurt the following with this amp,a PEAVEY cab with GL 35-watt celestions and a RANDALL cab with VINTAGE 30'S.No other fx but an old MORLEY WAH PEDAL.I am very capable of getting the sounds i need to play all the music i play which is heavy metal,funk,blues.This amp has a tone all of it's own not like a RECTUMFIRE,or MARSHALL,PEAVEY, or that over priced peice of junk they call UBERSHIT.I am very happy with my new purchase,all my friends gave the nod of approval so i'm siked

I slammed it hard into the wall as soon as i took it out to my truck by accident,I was very shocked to feel how solidly built this thing really is.So like i said just bought it tonight,so we'll see.I'm sure this will do fine

Let me assure you when Nick from their customer service department told me the amp would arrive today....He was not fucking around,great bunch of guys over there and i look forward to dealing with them in the future if neccessary!!!

I also run a small studio,motu,2 pc's,behringer board,condensor mikes,all monster cable,v-amp2,4-channel headphone amp,alesis ra-300 watt amp,2 pairs of monitor 1's,Randall half stack,ibanez bass,alesis drum machine so as you can see i am a busy boy.Have evrything i need to make music alone without having to rely on others.I would definetley buy another if it were lost or stolen.I did compare it to a Peavey XXX and the amp was awesome,but a 1,000 for an amp with no reverb? NOT GONNA HAPPEN!!Esecially a Peavey for that matter..I do wish it had either a master volume or 3-channels,other than that this amp has got it all.If you don't have alot of money or even if you do for this kinda price range you will absolutley not do any better,I have also heard amps like the bogner and some others that are alot more cash and do not crunch like this bad larry does.If your looking for a new versatile amp that does the crunch thing execptionally well and a clean sound to die for look no further CARVIN has the answer.

See previous review.

See previous review.

This is an update from my last review. I said I was having some problems with the amp's volume. Well, I took it to the Carvin store and it turns out the problem was not my amp but my home's power circuit, they were too many fluctuations on the power at my home and that was affecting the amp. I'm plugging the amp into a power conditioner now and the problem is gone. So let me move the reliability note up to 10 since the amp was not broken.

Well, as I said before, Carvin is a great company to deal with. When I called about the problem, they put in touch with the amp tech directly. Nice. Then when I took the amp to the store, the guy didn't say "leave it there and we'll check it" he said "let's plug it in right now and see what's going on with it". That's the kind of atittude I like. So we plugged it in and the amp worked fine. So we discussed about the wiring in my house and found out that was the problem. Very cool service indeed.

I've been using the amp for 4 months now and I'm very happy with it. I also noticed that this is not a very loud amp compared to a Marshall or Boogie. I just noticed that recently when I jammed with a loud drummer. I had no problem being heard though

50/100W all-tube head. 2 channels with independent eqs, Reverb and fx loop for both channels, auto bias EL34/6Lp, cabinet-voiced line out. Good enough for me. If you need more than that in an amp, you should get a programmable preamp.

I use it with a Warmoth custom strat with EMG SAs and mid-boost and an Ibanez Les Paul copy with an EMG Zakk Wylde set (81/85). The clean channel is pretty good. It doesn't have the punch of a Fender clean, but I don't care about that. I normally use the clean for soft arppegiated parts. It is pretty good for that. For clean blues solos that are better choices out there. The distortion channel is awesome. Pretty tight bottom and lots of gain. I use my gain at 6 for rythms and use an OD pedal for leads. I basically play heavy music and I play my songs only. So I don't know good it is to emulate other people's tone. But I like the tone I get from it anyway. Very heavy and focused.

I've been having some problem lately. When I use the amp at performance levels it works fine. However when I use it at bedroom levels (like between 0 and 1) the volume keeps going up and down, very weird. I will take it to the Carvin store to see what they tell me about it. I don't think its anything serious, it's just annoying. Other than that everything is fine.
right now I don't have a backup but I plan to buy a cheap solid state head as a backup just in case something goes wrong with the tubes.

Carvin is very helpful. I'm lucky because I live in the LA metro area so if I need anything I just drive to the Hollywood store. They have a great staff there. The website is cool too.

I've been playing for 19 years. My other gear is Warmoth custom strat with EMG SAs and mid-boost and an Ibanez Les Paul copy with an EMG Zakk Wylde set (81/85). I will buy either a Dean EVO or a Gibson Les Paul DC soon. Effects are a Boss OD1 pedal and a Dunlop Wha. I'm considering buy the Boss programmable EQ pedal now. I like my gear to be nice and simple.
When I was shopping for a new amp (to replace my old Laney head that I have to sell when I moved to the US) I tried all the amps under $1500 and this one was my favorite. Carvin is really good value for the money since they sell it direct from the factory. I'm really happy with the distortion tone, which is what I use 90% of the time. Maybe in the future I'll change the tubes and experiment with different tube types. But I'm happy with the way it sounds with the stock tubes on it, so it's not a big deal. What I like the most about this amp is that it sounds very unique. It's hard to compare it with any other amp. Sounds kind of like a 5150 but not really. It definetly does not sound like any Marshall, Mesa or Fender. This is a good thing because it gives me a lot of room to create a personal tone. And the fact that a full Carvin stack costs less than a Marshall head doesn't hurt either. Overall a great amp

50th anniversary Carvin MTS3200 head, 2002 model. As others have stated, one of the only major flaws is the missing master volume. I don't know how they could forget a feature as important as this, but whatever. Besides that, the only thing I could think of is possibly more ventilation. This thing can really heat up with the think black cover, and the little 3x10 inch space in the back isn't quite big enough. Otherwise, everything is great for the amp.

Ok, the first thing that I noticed about this amp was the clean. HOLY CRAP! I put my 450 dollar Epiphone through it, and wow, it was huge. It's one of the roundest, biggest cleans i have ever played through. I just love it. It's got a lot of highs, and a lot of lows. It takes a while to work out the tone, but theres a lot to work with. As for the distortion, though i have to keep the gain up to around 8 or 9, it drives very nicely. I play mostly rock and punk, and I love how the sound fits in with my band. It definately stands out.

I have also used the amp for jazz, and the sound is great for it as well. That's one of the major things that I love about this amp; you can use it for jazz, rock, metal, fuck, etc.

I haven't had any problems, and I have had it for about 5 months. I did manage to rip the coil out of the foot-switch cable...but thats because of my stupidity. Otherwise, everything has been great so far.

Whoa. I live in NJ, and I have to call CA. I thought it would be a big deal at first, but it was fine. I called to ask about certain specifications, and about some other products, and i didn't wait very long at all, and the guys are very knowledgable of the product. Carvin has some of the best phone support I have used for any type of product. When I messed up my pedal (all I did was pull the spring out) they sent me a brand new one, and didn't even ask for the old one back.

Overall, the amp has turned out to be even better than what I hoped. I would buy this amp even just for its clean. You can't beat the price. If you're looking for an origional sound, for a great price, go for the Carvin, you wont be sorry.

This is a 50th anniversary Carvin MTS3200 head, 1999 I believe. I bought it used in mint condition, and the 5881 tubes were swapped for Groove Tube EL34's. This amp excels in features, but also severely lacks in them. In terms of the rear panel, features are a big plus. I like the impedance switching, the direct line out, the bias switch, but most of all i love the option of switching between 50 watts (two power tubes) and 100 watts (4 power tubes). I keep mine on 50 all the time because when you have it on the lead channel the power tubes are pushed harder and you get a more intense distortion. However the amp lacks a master volume, which is a serious flaw in my opinion because it saves a ton of time with last minute volume changes at gigs. Plus I would have liked to see certain tone controls that the Marshall JCM2000's feature like a deep switch or a tone shift. Separate reverbs for each channel would also be a big plus. But we can't forget that important factor: price. Despite the lacking of features (which in my opinion is the amps ONLY weak point), this is an incredible value for the money.

I play this through a customized fender powerhouse strat with a seymour duncan invader installed in the bridge, dimarzio blues in the middle, and a dimarzio HS-3 in the neck. My secondary guitar is a Jackson DK-10. I like to play older heavy metal (80's metallica, etc.) and lots of punk. Occasionally blues and the sort. This amp can cover any sonic spectrum, but i'll get to that later.
The clean on this amp is worth buying it alone. For those people who say it sounds sterile, you have to swap those 5881's out! The EL34's give a better, fuller clean. The presence switch is nice, although I would have preferred a knob. But the switch works just fine. The tone controls on the clean don't change the sound all that drastically, but once you have the right tone dialed in, you're in heaven. Add a bit of reverb and it sounds phenominal. The reverb is absolutely fantastic because Carvin doesn't use spring reverb, but tail reverb which I believe is more costly but comes out sounding much better. Its what they use in studio recording according to carvin.

The distortion is the other factor. This is the biggest landmine for people deciding to try the amp. If you are looking for a thick full bodied and brutal distortion (while still sounding like you don't want to stick your head in a garbage can) you HAVE TO sit down with the amp for at least an hour and tweak, tweak, tweak. I forget what size pots Carvin use (I think its 500K) but a little teensy bit of a turn will completely change the sound, and you have to find the right sound for the right guitar. Another thing is that if you want a really good distortion, you have to have the right pickup! The distortion on my two dimarzio single coils is decent, but when you switch to the invader in the bridge, forget it! But if you're using an invader with that much gain, be prepared for feedback. You'll be blown away with tone that rivals a recto! The distortion is very tight and controlled, similar to a rectifier. It has a very modern sounding gain, unlike the marshalls which is generally a looser and more grainy sound. Its your choice.
The tone controls are suited well for the channel, but i don't recommend using reverb on the distortion. My only complaint is that the mids don't go as low as it should, it doesn't allow you to get that death metal sound. But if you really want that save your money and get a boss metal zone. Just keep your gain set below 8 and you'll be fine, since you need to let those power tubes breathe. Crank that amp past 5 and set the gain to your liking, but don't judge it with the volume at 1/2 and the gain at 10. It'll sound like crap.
But overall I can't believe i spent this little money on such a fantastic amp!

I've owned it a good 5 months and i've had absolutely no problems whatsoever. It's seen three gigs and every other band asked if they could use it. It was jostled here and there, but it stood strong. It's a tank. I am getting some microphonic crackling, but that might be due to a 12AX7 in the preamp, since it comes and goes.

Never dealed with them. Called carvin once to ask what 50th anniversay edition meant since they've been putting that on their amps for years. I forgot his answer but they seemed like nice people!

Overall, if you are looking for a tube amp with lush distortion and a fantastic clean, you can't beat a Carvin MTS. If you want the heavy ultra death metal that makes your ears bleed, but a pedal. Or a crate. If you want a rectifier for 1/3 the price, check this thing out. I definitely recommend it. I give it a nine because its not perfect, but i have yet to come across an amp that is.

Read the oter reviews. This is a basic tube head with the wrong tubes (cheap corner cutting) installed. The tubes Carvin installs give the amp a sterile sound. I'll buy a $200 crate if Iwant sterility in my tone. Also, the head comes with an ugly white face plate. It really looks cheap and clashy -- no aesthetics at all.

It does gainy distortion well but lacks in dynamic tone character. The clean headroom is present but not enough for a 50/100 watt head full of tubes. The mids sound like cardboard, and the highs get shrill, the lows begin to sound warm but end up muddy. Carvin needs to go with EL34's and get rid of those cheap stock tubes. Just to retube this this with good JJ tubes will cost $110.00. If i buy an amp for $650.00, I am certainly not ready to spend another $110.00 to make it sound the way it should.

I have heard horror stories. Mine is going back before it breaks. I tried it out for a couple of hours. I don't want to flirt with danger with this thing.

Don't believe the hype on these amps -- the Carvin Bulliten Boards are edited by employees that want to sell products and are contributed to by loyal customers that have only positive things to say about the gear they invested in. Notice that nobody has one single negative comment to say on thier boards. I guess the editors fixed that. I had this item shipped US 2nd day after being quoted a price of 59.97 for total shipping. They later charged me 89.97 for the shipping -- interesting that they can charge you something else after they have promised you a lower price.

Been playing for over 15 years and have had my fair share of gear. Nice amp if you don't have ears for good tube tone and could care less about reliability issues. Save your money and get a Marshall DSL or something comparable. I got a Randall RH100 for 299.00 that does the same things and more than this over-priced, over-hyped head.

See other reviews for this amp's features. I'm giving it a 9 because I'd really like to have that master volume knob. I bought the half stack used on Ebay for $500.

Three words: TOTAL CREAM DREAM. I primary play an American Deluxe Fat Strat (humbucker in the bridge), and the overdrive on this thing is out of this world. Not a ton of gain, but more than enough for most people. Thick, creamy, delicious. It's got tons of low end, but without getting muddy. Shimmering highs, cardboardy mids, all perfectly balanced with a few easy tweaks of the EQ knobs. Even with the drive cranked to 10, you can still pick out the individual notes of every chord. I mostly play hard rock and metal, and this is the amp I've been looking for the last 10 years. But wait, it gets better. The clean channel is where this amp really dominates. Puts a Fender to shame any day of the week. Huge, hall-filling clean tones just like you always wanted. If you don't like the way this amp sounds you're either a snob or an idiot.

I've had it for a month, couldn't really say yet.

I've never really dealt with them. I hear they're pretty good, though.

If you have the $900 bucks it costs to get one of these new from the factory, do it. Two weeks later you'll be sitting in front of it mouth agape, hands trembling, a single tear running down your cheek in awe of the sounds you're making. No, really.

2 channel, 100/50 WATTS all-tube, reverb, effects loop, speaker simulator, power tube switch (EL34 or 5881), headphone jack. This amp would be even better with another reverb knob for channel switching...and oh yes, a master volume.

I currently use a custom strat which has a Fender Jeff Beck neck, a very heavy strat-style body...ash wood I believe. The pickups I currently use are a PAF in the bridge, with a Dimarzio Air Classic in the neck. I have a 5-way toggle switch which allows some Telecaster-like tones in a couple positions. I must say I don't understand the negative reviews this amps been getting. Either they bought a lemon or the amp just needs proper tweaking...possibly the guitar they're using or they just plain don't know how to play music. This amp gets beautiful tones. The clean tone is LOUD and is capable of a wide range of tones. The drive channel is this amps real prize though. I should state that I switched out the 5881 and installed EL34's. I biased the amp myself...this is very important! Maybe the biasing was off on these other persons amps. If the amp is underbiased, you won't get the creamy thick distortion this amp is capable of. I bought the amp used so I went to the Carvin website and dl'ed the manual, which states how to bias the amp. Really simple for anyone with experience in electronics. I also put in new 12AX7 ECC83's. I power this amp through a 70's Marshall which originally had Greenbacks in it...I would recommend using Celestions Vintage 30's though. The amp really thickens up with these. I like to keep the drive on a notch above halfway and kick in my TS8 modified TS9 for more drive. Another possible cause of bad amp sound is the tube sockets. They may have to be retensioned otherwise the sound will be weak and noisy. This amp is also plenty loud...I don't know how loud 100 watts needs to be. But like I said...it cranks. A wide range of crunch is possible....its very nasty and very ROCK AND ROLL baby. Must be all those glowing tubes.

I haven't had any problems with this amp...like I said before, if yours sounds bad, take it to someone who knows how to make an amp sing. This amp was made to sound good and it does when setup properly. First thing I would look into is the tube biasing, and make sure your using a good speaker cabinet...loaded with V30's.

I called Carvin once when I was trying to bias my amp and he directed me to the manual which I downloaded...he gave me some good pointers...very helpful.

I'm very happy with this amp...especially for the price I paid. I would buy another in a heartbeat.

The features on this amp arent as good as I hoped. All of the standard knobs and buttons are there, but as far as FX go, there is only a presence and reverb. Presence really kicks in at about 2 or 3 but the reverb is always awesome. Now the set up is nice on the other hand is beyond my needs, but if ever needed, I know it will be there. Specs:
2 channel's clean/deistorion, going through 2 12" BR12 British Series Speakers
50/100 Wattage switch (very useful)
ALL TUBE: Four 5881 power tubes and 5 12AX7A Preamp Tubes

Need I more?

I use a Fender Jimi Vaughen Signiture Series, playing from nice blusey Hendrix Style to Slayer. This is is perfect in every way for my playing styles. NO Noise on either channel except when my Monitor is on. This is great for any type of clean playing music. I love the way the bass kicks in if you want it, but when it mix's with those clear ass highs its amazing. It has yet to distort on Clean, and I highly doubt it ever will. Now, about the distorion, for Tube Distorion I was expecting more, but since im stuck with it, its not so bad not having that Death Metal sound im used to.

Ok, I have only had this amp for about 3 weeks and here are the situaions, when it first arived the delivery "boy" droped it on the ground so damn hard I thought some of the tubes broke. Nothing Broke.
The way I used to have it set up in my room was tilted back a little bit until one day it fell backward slaming on the ground, I then set it to not lean so far back, then it fell forward. Nothing Broke. I have yet to take it anywhere but im not going to worry.

What can I say ordered online for the 2nd day air, got here the third day. Warranty is the thing, 1yr c'mon.

I have played many other amps, at one point I almost bought a shitty ass "Blues Junior", and this amp is by far the One of the best amps I have palyed. I dont need any other gear, I wouldnt want it no interfear with the Tube Sound. If my amp was lost or stolen I would probably shit my pants, then cry, then buy a new one. For this price and capibilties. Fuck yeah, in a second!

I do not own a Carvin MTS 3200 nor would I unless I could pick one up cheap and modify it. Let me explain.
The amp seems to have a problem suppling enough filiment voltage, especially when equiped with EL-34's. According to the Carvin supplied schematic, the filiment supply is rated for 5.9 amps. The (5) 12AX7's take about 300 milliamps a piece (about 1.5 amps total for the 5 in there) and, if equiped with 6L6's, as they ALWAYS are from Carvin, you add an additional 0.9 amps a piece (about 3.6 amps). 3.6 plus 1.5 is 5.1 amps. Not much of a problem yet. If you were interested in making this amp sound good (by installing EL-34's), your output tube filiment current draw will be 1.5 amps times 4 tubes, 6 amps! That's just for the output tubes. Now add the preamp tube filiment draw (1.5 amps) and your up to 7.5 amps total filiment current. To make matters worse, Carvin added 0.56 ohm fusable links before the bridge circuit in the V1 and V2 filiment supply. These tubes starve at typically 3.75 volts on their filiments! You cannot even see them glow! Without the filiments being at least close to design operating voltage the cathode does not get hot enough, not enough electron flow through the tube,and, the cathode gets stripped of it's coating causing premature failure.
The output tubes fare some better. The voltage on their filiments are around 5.5 volts with EL-34's and about 5.75 volts with 6L6's installed. What I ended up doing is:
1: I installed a 6.3 volt 3 amp filiment transformer (it's all I could find)in parallel with the filiment windings already there. This helped by about 0.25 volts, not a big improvement but boy does this amp sound better, the EL-34's do not seem to be current starved any more.
2: I removed (shorted)the 0.56 ohm fuseable links in the V1, V2 dc filiment circuit and replaced the 1 amp diodes with 3 amp diodes. The 1 amp diodes were getting noticably warm, not a good thing. The 3 amp diodes are fine.
After these two mods in the preamp circuit the filiment voltage on the preamp board is now around the 5.5 volt range, not up to spec but a lot better than what Carvin had originally.

This amp was loosing preamp tubes every 3 or 4 months and the output tubes kept going soft too soon.
I guess I wrote all this in the wrong spot but I think people should know about this because Carvin, at least for this 1995 unit, had some serious engineering problems. Like I say, If you keep the 6L6's in there and live with sterile sound, you may never notice anything wrong (although things are very wrong in there). The installation of EL-34's just pushes it over, way over, the edge. This amp was never designed for EL-34's, don't let the sales hype fool you anymore! It barely works with 6L6's!! You can make it work with EL-34's, but you will have to add these (or some better) mods to make it work. Probably a more robust filiment transformer with a 6.7 or so open circuit voltage would be the answer, I know they use to make them that way. That way the voltage is in spec under load.
These things come from Carvin with four 6L6's. Now you know why.

I just fixed this amp. After I added the Mods, it had that nice sweet, warm tone you get from EL-34's. Clean or crunch, this thing sounds good, NOW. It is not quite as good as my Marshall JTM-60 in tone but it is a great improvment over what it was. Like I say, for the right price. . .

Before I installed these mods, this amp was not reliable. I am only hopeing this improves, time will tell.

I E-mailed them about this problem but I haven't heard back. What does that tell you?

This could be a great amp for the price if it were engineered right. Too many corners cut for me to feel good about owning one.

I have already sent a review on a mts 3200. I like it so much that I wanted to buy another one. HOWEVER! My only request was that I have carvin install the el 34's before I buy it and I offered to pay te extra cost to do so. They refused to do it. All I can say is fuck you carvin you have lost a once happy customer and I will never buy another piece! I liked the amp better then boogies and price was not an issue! Now I guess Im buying a boogie. I wanted two heads that matched and the way that dork acted on the phone at carvin I will now go else where. Thanks for nothing you lazy asses at carvin! Its so sad.

I play '80s metal and melodic death metal like Iron Maiden, Carcass, and In Flames. 2000 Carvin MTS3200 tube head and full stack that I purchased from Carvin's Hollywood shop as a GIT/MI student before relocating to my native Arkansas. 2 switchable channels, effects loop, reverb, presence. Relatively few knobs, so it's easy to dial in a sound quickly. Would've loved a "vintage" and "modern" gain channel, as well as a switchable effects loop to use with my rack gear. Direct recording sounds sterile compared to a Shure SM-57, even in my acoustically incorrect house. Never use the tone knobs on the clean much, it's sparkly and nice, can get deep when it wants as well as high, but a bit sterile overall (I know that's kind of a contradiction, but it's the best way I can put it). Clean doesn't have much variation in sound. Not a very loud amp-shame because I love the sound. My other guitarist uses an old solid state 1981 Fender Stage Lead II combo and can blow me out of the water live in terms of volume, but mine has a much tighter, modern sound. Wish it would've been louder, even on 10 it's a great sounding amp, but be prepared to be drowned out next to a Marshall or Mesa. Bought it as a lower priced alternative to a Mesa Triple Rec, and it sounds, if not close, in the same vein.

I use currently
Jackson Kelly Standard 1996 model, tuned Eb, 9 gauge Super Slinkies, EMG 60/81
Jackson King V 1999 or 2000 model, tuned E, 10 gauge pure nickel Ernie balls (not wrapped like Slinkies), loaded w EMG 81, 89, push pull pot and BTC tone control

Jackson Dinky Reverse 2001 model, tuned DGCFAD, EMG SA, S, 81, expander midrange control on tone pot, Ernie Ball Regular Slinkies

Love the sound for rhythm, especially in moderate heavy tunings like Eb and straight D. Most younger players mistake gain for heaviness, and I just use my gain on 5 for rhythm, 7 for solos, scooping out mids, cranking bass and treble. I like a modern gain, Mesa sound as opposed to a grainy, overdriven Marshall one, and for that reason I bought the amp as an cheaper alternative to a Mesa Triple Rec.

Clean, as before stated, is wonderfully nice and crisp but a bit sterile. I just leave those knobs initialized and use my ART SGX 2000 Express for cleans and delays in the studio. Live I would use the head since I hate messing with racks live, but I wouldn't be 100% satisfied. Clean isn't very dynamic, but then again I use high gain pickups. Even the EMG 89 didn't match my Dinkies stock coils for vintage tone, but the SA/S's should blow those out of the water.

I prefer a tight, modern crunch (like Gardenian's "Soulburner", heavy as fuck, not noisy). For that the amp does a great job for its price, and handles a lot of overdriven sounds as you lower the volume/gain. Not much variety, however, as say, a Mesa Nomad, which was the most versatile head I'd ever had experience with. Solo sound is good overall, very Rhoads-ish, but I use my ART when I want more dynamics or fullness. Reverb is present in rhythm, I use it around 6 1/2 or 7, but not totally obtrusive.

Clean doesn't distort very much. I'm used to hearing my other guitarist's old 1981 Fender Stage Lead II's 250 watt combo distort at about 1 1/4, so the Carvin doesn't distort for its wattage. Distortion isn't necessarily brutal as much as it is defined. Layering in guitars and being sparing on the gain helps the brutality part.

Hard as hell to crank out harmonics, even cranked and with my '81's too. Feels like I have to dig into the strings too much. Getting a PB100 powerbrake soon for that, as I can't record at high volumes. Harmonics could be more responsive, as well as sustain longer. Cleans are very "...Justice for All" when initialized. Could be more dynamically responsive and Gilmour sounding.

Overall, the amp does what I ask of it (sounds so much better than the marshall DSL100 I tried in Guitar Center Hollywood), but I'll have to supplement it with my rack, powerbrake, and some different axes/pickups for different tones. A good "main" head.

Amp and cabs are sturdily built, but oddly not sealed that much inside. The head I haven't had a problem with, but when rehearsing I had to turn the gain and volume to 10 to be heard near my other guitarist's old Fender. One of the speakers blew, but Carvin returned it no problem in a couple weeks. Main complaint is how relatively quiet, if great sounding, the head is. A good studio tone, but live, go with another, louder head that can make the same sounds, like a Mesa.

Carvin are really great with their service. I've no complaints, as I was answered via email the same day.

Been playing since 96, and possess a GIT Journeyman's certificate, class of 2000.

I own/use with this:
an ART SGX 2000 Express preamp (good for some stuff, requires too much tweaking).
Alesis MEQ 230 (helps crunch come alive).
Shure mics and Tascam MKII8 cassette recorder for studio.

If this head were lost or stolen, I would severely miss it, but would save up to a). Purchase a Triaxis b) a Triple Rec and c) a Nomad 100 instead of purchasing it again. Then I'd collect a bunch of other stuff cuz I can't resist.

Love:
Tight, modern distortion that can be made more vintage with some tweaking (tightness comes with actives, I hate how passives sound like wet pud, even if theyre more dynamic).
Crisp, nice clean sound. Sounds "more digital" than most tube heads, that is, more clear, clean, less boomy, but also doesn't sound as sterile as digital.
Easy to go with live. Not a million knobs or buttons.
Fairly reliable.
Good sound for price, as with most Carvin heads.

Hate:
Low volume even when cranked.
Lack of a vintage/modern gain.
Fairly sterile and undynamic clean.
Difficulty of getting harmonics/sustain even cranked.
Fairly difficult to use with multi-effects processors. Of course I probably just don't have my ART set up right. The FX loop keeps everything quiet, but wish it was switchable so I could pass my rack sound through it without being colored by the amp. I use this head for now as my main rhythm, lead and clean sound, and use my rack stuff for specialized sounds.

Also hate direct recording output, sounds sterile compared to micing.

Compared it to:
MESA Triaxis, Mesa Triple Rec, Mesa Nomad 100, Marshall DSL 100, Legacy head, Crate GX-130C
Bought it because: sounded similar to Triple Rec's distortion, lower price. Played it and Legacy side by side for about an hour. Legacy is more "Marshall-sounding", but I like a Mesa tone. Would've had a Legacy had it been given to me, but I like the MTS better and the decision was easy to make due to Carvin's few amp head models.

Blew the shit out of the Crate, except the Crate had nice chorus/clean that doesn't work anymore. Hate that amp, immensely unreliable.

Not as grainy to me as the Marshalls, but not as loud. I'd rather be as quiet as a mouse and have killer tone than the grainy tones a lot of bands tend to have when they go live (as opposed to more compressed and tight in their studio work).

Wish it had:
Three channels, more dynamic clean, switchable loop, more of a variety of distorted sounds instead of just Mesa-ish or somewhat vintage when gain is reduced, more volume, more harmonic output, perhaps Celestions in the cabs.

OVERALL:
Great amp for price, like most Carvins. Expect to have to supplement it with other gear if you want a variety of sounds. Good head for more than just metal, as lower volumes and gain clean up nicely on the distorted side, although I'd rather have a Marshall on the rare occasion that I'd wanna play AC/DC. Carvin's cabs are nice cuz they handle big wattage loads, but theyre the only cabs I have experience with. I'll keep them around for my next amp head.

I have a 2001 mts3200.Playing hardcore and punk I needed an amp with plenty of nuts,and this baby has it.I don`t use the clean side alot but i`ll tell you it is way loud and crystal clean. I don`t use the fx loop at all,this is the only thing i wish it didn`t have. The only thing this amp didn`t come with,as all amps, was a case.I play in an old barn so things get ugly out there.The one thing it could`ve used is a little better e.q. on the dirty side but i`m not complaining for a $599 dollar amp.5 12ax7 4 5881 bias switch for el34 or 6l6.4 8 16 ohm switch it`s got all you need on the back side.

I play a 2000 s.g. with a emg 81.With this guitar and a dunlop crybaby I get every thing I need.The amp responds very well to my style.I replaced a Hoffman 100 wat for this amp,I was very critical in deciding on a replacement,tried marshall,boogie,peavey,line6,and on and on and nothing touched it,especially for $599.

Seven months later and no problems.Wish I could say the same for my rythem guitar players marshall,who has had two meltdowns in seven months.The mts3200 is a tank,I have a good feeling with it.I`m giving it a 9 so I don`t jinx myself.

Carvin is honest.Maybe that`s why they have been around for fiftey years.When I called I got straight answers,they even said I would have no need for their more expensive amp the legecy.

It get`s a 10 here.Been playing for twenty years,tried them all and even though I still have my hoffman it will never hit the road again.If this amp gets lost stollen or burnt to a crisp I`ll buy another for $599 any day.I`ve got nothing but raves from it even from my friends in Pro-Pain.The only thing left to say about it is check out the Carvin website they tell you everything you to know.

I bought this amp 2 months ago. $599.99.. All tube, selectable power tubes 5881/6L6 or EL34's, selectable power output 100 or 50 watts, 5 12AX7 preamp tubes, selectable cabinet ohms, 2 channel. Master reverb for both channels. LOT'S of features for an amp in this price range. I would have given it a 10 on features if it had two things. A master output for both channels and a seperate reverb for each channel. I would easily pay the extra for these features if they offered them. So I deduct one point for each.

I play an Ibanez RG570 with a Tone Zone in the bridge and a PAF Pro in the neck. I was looking for an all tube amp to replace my amp that was stolen. I had a Mesa-Boogie Dual Rectifier. I did'nt want to spend THAT much cash again. My style of music is metal, metal and metal. Not this nu-metal crap, but good heavy metal. This amp handles this style with ease. Plenty of gain. (My gain setting on the MTS is at 7, plenty of room to squeeze out more if you want) This is a high gain monster. I am so happy with this amp. I'm going to buy another head so I can run stereo. I've played a Soldano SLO 100 head and like the sound the MTS puts out much better. The clean channel is awesome as well. Clean all the way to 10!! I checked out a Carvin Legacy as well and it sounded great as well but the MTS had quite a bit more gain which is what I was looking for. Again, I wish it had a Master output control for the power amp, but that is an easy fix should you so desire.

So far so good. It seems very solid even though it is lighter than a lot of all tube heads. The light weight is due to the cabinet wood. It's light yet tough. Metal corners. Brass pot knobs. Very cool design. I have used it without a backup, but with ANY tube head, you should have a backup. Even though I've only had it for a couple of months, I'm giving it a 9 because I play 3 nights a week every week and no problems so far.

Very nice people to deal with. I called them to double check the idle voltage if I wanted to rebias it for EL34's They were very precise on their info. Most companies won't tell you that info. Just check out Carvins catalog. They give you more specs on their products than any other company. They know their shit! You know you are dealing with a professional company when you call them and you can feel confidence when dealing with Carvin. No wonder Steve Vai chooses Carvin.

I absolutley love the Carvin MTS 3200.....it is the ost awesome sounding amp I've EVER played and I have played a LOT of amps in my 23 years of playing. Marshalls, Mesa's, Crates, Soldano's to name a few. You can't beat this amp for the money or any other money for that matter.

It is a 2001 model, ive had it for about 4 months now, this is my first review. Its a 2 channel 100/50 watt amp, effects loop and reverb are included, loop is not switchable though. I rarely use the reverb because it makes the distortion channel sound like poo. The amp is loud, but not brutal. If i need louder i would mic it. oh yea its tube.

I use a gibson les paul studio with a seymour duncan jb in the bridge (my fav guitar in the world).It comes pretty close to the sound in my head. Over all it has very good dynamics. I really dont understand why people are complaning that it doesnt have enough gain for metal. Jesus christ this thing has more gain than a recto, i know ive played one. The sounds i can get out of this amp are pretty damn close to the ones i hear in my head/ fav records. As for the clean channel its so awesome. Clean all the way to 10, if anyone is looking for a clean amp i would get this one before fender, and not have to take out a loan.
All i can say is its a great sound, perfect for modern or classic tones.BTW it sounds good cranked. I give it a 9 because nothing is perfect and tone is subjective.

This is where the points fall. The first mts i got crapped out at a friends house. I sent it back and got a new one, but for a month or 2 before i got to take it out again it got me worried. I dont have a backup so its kinda scary. I wouldnt buy it again though. The new one works fine.

The company really cares about there customers. when i called to ask about the probem they sent me a new one without me even sending the old one back, credit card collateral though. Very nice people.

ive been playing long enough to know good tone when i hear it, and this has good tone. Its also a really good deal which carvin could easily charge twice as much for. i wish they didnt waste time on a reverb though.

I got this half-stack about 3 or 4 months ago so it's probably a 2000/01 model.
Here's the details:2 channels - clean and not clean. Both have low,mid,high. Gain channel has a gain and presense control. The clean channel has a presense button. It's got an effect loop and an ohm selection switch. One of my favorite features is the 50/100 watt selection switch. The only thing I wish it had was one of those solo knobs like on the Mesa Rectos but it was an 80 dollar fix. I'll explain later....

Alright, I use Squier Std Strat with a DiMarzio Super Distortion and PAF Pro, Essex Flying V, and a Essex LP Junior. I play Metal/Punk/Grunge/Rock type stuff and I think the amp is just perfect. The clean channel is great sounding. I mean it's just flat out amazing. It's got a lot of head room too. I don't think I've ever gotten it to distort. I should point out that I don't use the amps reverb and I'll tell you why in a second. The gain channel reminds me of a Mesa crossed with a Marshall while still having individuality. This is my ideal amp for my styles. I've heard a lot of people say you can't do Metal on this but that not true. I'm a huge Metallica fan and if you have a nice hot bridge humbucker, like a 500T, you can get a great metal sound. The amp is also very quiet which I like. Now, to the reverb. I don't use the reverb because when it's on it really changes the sound of the gain channel. If you plug in the footswitch and turn the reverb off on it it sounds amazing. It put this high buzzsaw type sound to it that I like. The only effect I use is a BOSS EQ pedal though the FX loop as a solo boost. I turn the mids and the volume up on it and it works just great.

I've never had a problem. I've been gigging with it for the last 3 months and not one problem. For now I give it a 10... but I suppose time will tell...

Carvin has always been very helpful. When we went to order a PA a few months ago they were out of the one we wanted so they sent us the model up at no charge. Great people.

I've been playing for about 5 years. I also own a Fender HRD and Deluxe 112 Plus. I'd replace this amp in a second if it were lost or stolen. The one thing that I got hung up about a first is that it didn't sound like I wanted it too. But it seems that as the tubes broke in it started to sound better and better. You cannot beat this amp for the price. I used to want a Mesa Recto but not anymore. I've gotten so many compliments on my tone and 3 other friends of mine have bought either the half-stack or combo after playing mine. This amp gets me the sound I've been looking for. What more could I want?

this amp rocks. it costs half the price of a mesa/boogie but sounds jsut as good if not better the gain channel is amasing i play a gibson gothic explorer throught it and is sounds ausome. never have i see an all tube amp for that price have such ausome gain!!!

sounds great see above!

it rocks

I bought this amp to replace a rather useless Peavey Bandit 112. The Bandit was fine for what I had been most recently using it for (home practice in an appartment). However, I have been recently involved in a band again, and I needed something that sounded good and had enough power to reach the folks in the cheap seats. I wanted something with a good amount of gain, since I play hard rock. THe Peavey 5150 was an obvious choice, however every one I tried had serious buzz issues. I wanted something with more crunch less buzz.

This amp is a 2001 Carvin MTS 3200 head. It's got 5 12AX7 preamp tubes and 4 5881/6l6 Power Tubes. It has 2 channels, a clean and dirty. An effects loop, Cabinet Voiced Line Out, a bias switch so you can change the bias range to utilize EL34 tubes...etc. As far as power goes, 100 tube watts is MORE than enough for anything I would ever need it for. If I needed more power, I'd friggin mike the thing.

There are two very minor issues that I have with this amp. #1 - The amp's knobs are in reverse order from the MTS Combo....and the Combo has the right order. For example, channel one is on the right and channel two is on the left. If I were chinese, I might apreciate this reverse listing....but i prefer to read things from left to right. #2 - This amp could use a master volume to control overall volume for both the clean and dirty channels, but as long as you dont let that bother you, it's so minor, it's almost not worth mentioning.

This amp sounds great. Like I mentioned before, I was looking for a high gain tube amp. I had looked at the Peavey 5150s, the Mesa Boogie Dual Rec's and the Marshall DSL 2000s. I had decided to take a chance on Carvin's MTS for a couple of reasons. The Mesa's had a very broken up distortion and at times they sounded muddy as hell. The Marshall's were lacking in the bottom end and gain and were they were quite pricy, to boot. The Peavey 5150's, as I stated before, were extremely buzzy...no crunch...and not alot of usable gain.

Like I stated before, I play hard rock and some classic rock. I needed something versatile enough to give me van halen style high gain but at the same time, gear back and get a smoth clapton tone. This amp is THE perfect choice for me. I can go from Stevie Ray Vaughan + Eric Clapton to Eddie Van Halen + John Petrucci in a turn of a knob or two. The distortion is smooth and usable, from the 1-10....not like on the Peavey 5150, where anything past 5 is useless.

There have been a lot of mention of clipping diodes used in the signal path of the MTS amps. If that's the one thing swaying you from buying an MTS, keep in mind that Marshall, Mesa, Fender, Peavey, Crate.....they've all used clipping diodes at one time or another in their amplifiers. Trust your ears, not some Alt.Guitars.Amps boutique amp snob. you'll be better off.

Oh...Not to take away from in by mentioning it last, The Clean Channel is the best clean channel I've ever heard on ANY amp...ever. Nothing compares to it. And for that reason, this sucker gets a 10 on sound. Without the Clean channel, I'd give it an 8.

Um...can't say much in this category. I've heard bad things about carvin amp reliability....but this is my second Carvin amp....and I've loved em both. Never had a single problem with any of them.

Carvin gives a year warranty on this amp...I think. Regardless, they've been fantastic during the sales process....since at one point I was torn between the legacy and the mts. They were quite helpful in determining my needs and pointing me in the right direction. My one complaint with Carvin is that litered among their extremely knowledgable sales people, are a few real idiots. So you might have to call, and if you get a real 'winner'....hang up and call again.

I've been playing for over 15 years. In my amp history, I've owned a Peavey Bandit, a Carvin SX 200 and an Ampeg VH-150 Head. This amp, so far, has been perfect for me. It's got *my* tone....which is something I landed on by accident. If this amp were stolen, I'd probably buy another one....maybe give the legacy a try instead. The one thing I REALLY loved about Carvin was the price. You simply can't buy a tube head at that price, from any other company....unless you go the beat-to-shit used route. If this thing breaks down, dies, or gets stolen...I wont feel that someone stole my wifes engagement ring. I'd like to add a Line6 Flextone amp to my gear....since the Flextone will give me incredible amp versatility...and I can keep the Carvin at home for recording and those 'special gigs'

All i cna say is Wow! I sold my Marshall DSL for this thing and I am so happy. I have now owned a Fender, Marshall, Crate, and Peavey head. This is my last buy ever! This thing is beautiful. I though my Marshall was it, but the distortion and depth of this amp makes my Marshall sound like a Gorilla Amp. I bought the Marshall for the name, and I bought this one for the sound. Save yourself HUNDREDS of dollars and get a BETTER amp. The clean channel is so warm it is incredible. You could use this is the house for yourself or take it outside and play a gig for the whole neighborhood. It is LOUD and clean all the way through. The BEST Tube amp I have ever owned. I have Groove tubes in it and play a Les Paul Standard and a Jackson model 6. They both sound great.

Great sound. Great Clean and great distortion. Incredibly versatile. If you play Blues or Metal, this amp can do it all. No humming or popping EVER! Clena and warn. Blows my Marshall out of the water! Sometimes use a BOSS MT-2 and Digitech RP-200. Clean and no humming or any noise of any kind. Sounds great through and through.

Never had a problem. Never gigged it, but I am sure it could stand it. Built like an Iron horse! Sounds great and never lets me down.

Never needed support, but I hear they are great.

Been playing for over 15 years, and this is the BEST piece of equipment I have ever owned and I try EVERYTHING! It is awesome. I will never SELL it!! It is mine forever!!!

This is a 2000 model, spring reverb and when you turn it off it wont cut the "tail" of the reverb so it sounds more natural. 2 channel, master reverb knob, lead channel presence. I replaced the factory 5881 tubes with EL34s from groove tubes so it sounds really nice now, before it had a little noise and was putting out a lot more mids, also sounded a bit muddy with the 5881s. I wish it had separate reverb and presence knobs for both channels.

I play a modified Ibanez RG270 (modifications were all new duncan pickups and original floyd rose) I play hard rock, punkish stuff this amp seems to suit it quite well, although i would have liked the clean channel to be a bit sharper sounding. I've played rockabilly type stuff through this using my middle singlecoil and the treble all the way up and it will make your ears bleed but i think thats the only way to get that type of sound...now, if you want pantera style stuff that is just awesome on this amp, if you turn the drive all the way up and try to palm mute it, it doesnt even sound palm mute theres so much getting picked up in the amp.

I only had to replace the power tubes once so far thats cuz 5881s kinda suck in this amp, and yea i would gig without a backup, i've left it on for quite a long time in a semi humid room and it hadnt dampened the sound or anything at all, seems to be real sturdy also.

no need to deal with them, 90 day warranty on it if that helps at all?

Overall it can kick a lotta ass if it needs too or it can be as delicate as spoongebob bunnypants? I chose it cuz its all tube, sounded good, cheap...(i'm 17), and also because my friend baught the R1000 bass amp and that sounded superb so i thought i'd give it a try

This is a follow up review to an earlier post.

Well, for almost two years now I have been gigging with this amp. I recently made some mods to mine, and it absolutely kills!

Although I have always been more than happy with this amp, I found out that the British Series speakers in the matching cab are a serious weak point. I replaced them with Celestion Vintage 30s, and sheeeeeot, this amp came to life! I can hear overtones and dynamics I could never hear before. The V30s are crisper, clearer, louder, and have a detailed response the BS Carvin speakers just don't have -- they are just too dark sounding. The difference is night and day, and now the amp sounds better to me than anything else I've ever played. Change them speakers!

In addition, I also replaced the original 5881 power tubes with Electro-Harmonix EL34-EHs. This changed the character of the amp in a big way. To me, the EL34s sound more musical than the 5881s. The 5881s are more grainy and more hi-fi sounding than the EL34s. This, of course, all comes down to personal preference. I like the smoother, thicker sound of the EL34s....and they are cheaper than 5881s to boot.

All said and done, I made a few mods and made an already great amp a fantastic one. The sound of this amp turns heads and raises questions every time and every where it is played. The reliability has been perfect as well. It makes a jackass out of the guys who spend $3000 on an amp head and have nothing more to show for it than I do.

Peace in the 'hood!

THIS IS NOT A TEST! If you are serious about your playing you really owe it to yourself to try one of these heads.I have a 1998 MTS3200 head that I bought new from the factory.I play mostly modern experimental rock and fusion sort of stuff and this amp really cuts the STRANGE CARGO thing upside down!All the stuff you like:clean and lead channels {footswitchable}I dont use the effects loop{it has one}because it tends to pick up a bit more noise than I like.I drive this with an A.R.T.SGX2000 Express into a pair of Marshall 1960ax cabs and it's more power than I can stand! Using earplugs is the only way to hear what this thing is really about.I re-valved it with the Groove Tubes E34LS and 12ax7a's and the tone just sings.Get with the program Carvin!Start shipping all your tube amps with Groove Tubes.I dont really care for the sovtek or the 5881 sound {which are supplied with the head}but re-valve this puppy and you are in for the tone of your life.Footswitchable effects loop acts as a 6db gain boost when not in use.Almost as much fun as the dirty channel!

I use this with primarily humbuckers on a bunch of custom guitars and always have more than enough gain.I dont want to use a power brake as it will just eat tubes faster than playing wide open all the time.Playing arpeggio's in the clean channel is very well articulated and crisp:the notes ring true even at faster speeds.I play alot of tetra harmonies and arpeggio's and alot of very fast lead lines and the tone is very balanced and powerful.The lead channel is sooooo brutal:it will turn your hair gray.The grind of the amp is very gradual but as you increase the drive,it gets a real liquid metal sort of roar.The clean channel is definitely more than enough gain and grind for most of my applications,this wide open sounds better than alot of Fenders and Marshalls lead channels.The lead channel is simply the most brutally hohnest amplification I've ever heard.Anything you can throw at it times a hundred.REALLY saturated.I use the clean channel with single coils for rythym work sometimes and am able to get a real nice jangly sparkle off of my Fender Amer. Deluxe Telecaster.It can get really chunky and fat too @ the higher volumes.I also use alot of different effects and the realism is really outstanding.The delays,reverbs,ring modulations,phasers,flangers,etc all sound genuine and authentic.The on-board reverb on this amp is a bit thin for my taste,I usually use it in addition to the SGX to really fatten it up.By itself it is kinda light though.

Never had any problems with it or Carvin's customer service dept.They have been very helpful and knowledgeable regarding technical clarification of certain things.I dont use this for gigs:it is strictly studio equipment but I would'nt hesitate to use it at a gig without a back-up.I give it a 8 here to give the benefit of the doubt to performance applications.

I never have had a problem with the customer service,they are very knowledgable and helpful.Sometimes they get so busy that they aren't always prompt.2 year warranty parts and labor {not including tubes}

I am definitely getting another one of these to stereoize my rig.The rest of my studio includes about a dozen guitars,ten tube amps of various makes and models,and about 40k's worth of recording equipment{
consoles, processor's, synths,15 piece drum kit,etc,etc....IF this was stolen I would definitely try to replace it if it was still available.
I played everything on the market at the time including Marshall's, Fender's,Soldano's,Matchless,VOX,Groove Tubes Soul-o-matic,Ampeg,Mesa Boogie,blah,blah,blah, the only thing I liked was going to run me close to 2 grand for the head alone!SO, not being one to throw money or prestige around like the nearest nerfball,I opted for the Carvin Head and am so very grateful I did.The most real value built in on the market right now.If you must throw your weight and money around for the sake of status or conformity,get a Trace Elliott Speed Twin,or the Marshall TSL 100 or even the Soldano,but real value always speaks louder to me than any supposed reputation ever could.I have been playing guitar for twenty five+years and have no intention in stopping now or anytime soon.The Carvin head represents the best in advanced engineering coupled with a vintage respect for quality and that pretty much says it all.

Purchased in 1998 from carvin.Very cooltone when cranked. Not gonna get into the features, enough of them on other reviews. I use this amp every day cranked between 7 and ten. All i can say is nice. For those reviews that bash this amp for having bad tone. All i can say is you need to learn how to play. If more gain is needed then most likely these people use the noise to cover what they can't do.Sorry! i just hate these little grunge punks that popped up over the last 10 years and call them selves musicians.Learning three chords and not learning how to tune a guitar first is not someone that i would be taking advise about tone from! Again sorry,todays music is a joke to me. Anyway, this amp is used with a carvin tweed 212 that i won from them. (thank you very much) and a home made 212 loaded with green backs.Guitars used are..... Gibson firebird, gibson nighthawk stanard, american standard strat, carvin sc 90. I've got the tone covered for rock and blues! Rock mostly 60's through early 80's. The best times in music for raw tube tone.I have swapped out the 5881's for el34's. To me it was a major step forward in classic hardrock tone!! Squashy sounding,creamy and compressed.

Use humbuckers and singles. The overdrive sounds great with the gain between 5 and 7, volume on 6 to 9, presence off. this knob is kinda nasty. Everything else pretty much is a mood thing.The clean is very clean but if you crank it past 5 with a strat, SRV's lenny comes pooring out.

Oh boy. When i recieved the amp it did not work! I managed to located a cracked solder joint on the board and repaired it myself. It worked for a while, made some wierd noises once in a while then lost power. I said screw it and sent it back. They found more cracks but repaired it extended my warranty and this things going on two years of high volume abuse. the damages were frustrating but i don't blame carvin. I blame that noncaring bunch of dorks known as ups. Can you ever get anything in the mail unbroken these days? I would never travel without a backup. I don't care who made the amp!

Nice enough people if you don't get one of those kids on the phone. They took care of me fine. Sucks that there so far away. Need an east coast store please!!!!!

I have been playing for about 15 years, Im not one to buy amps every year i had been using some peavey stuff but i needed a thicker and more classic sounding amp. Its won't do what a mesa rectoverb will but what it does it does well. And the best part is that you can buy 2 of these heads for the price of 1 recto. Im gonna buy another one soon if that says anything. She's an old hotrodded marshall for $600.00, not bad. I play alot of hendrix, ted nugent, SRV, Gov't mule, allman bro's old and new blues, robin trower, some old metal etc. What can i say? This amp has what alot don't and that is one hell of a alot of tone for the money.If your tight with money, Go buy one anyway!

I bought this amp direct from Carvin in either 97 or 98. It is a 2 channel 100 watt head with reverb, effects loop, line out, 5881 power tubes stock with a bias switch for EL-34's. The amp came with a Carvin 412 cab with stock speakers. The amp is far better than lets say a 2700.00 Soldano.

For the style(s) I play this amp is supreme. Only at the highest gain settings was any real noise apparent. Sound wise it goes from crunch to fuzz in 0-60. The clean side is the best I've heard in an amp such as this. Mated with a Zoom 505 thru the FX loop some really superb high tech processed sounds come alive. Alone this amp excels at pure unadelterated tone. A real bargain for those not looking for a bargain sound. In other words, you get a Caddy for the price of a Corolla. The lead channell in conjuntion with your guitar's volume makes for a good crunch to lead transition without leaving anything behind. The clean channel absolutley will not break up without some persuasion from a TS-9 or Expandora set for stun. The reverb is great. Full out this amp is a tone terror with the highs, presence, and gain maxed but be warned, the volume is earth shattering. At any voloume this amp sounds great.

This amp can take Mike Tyson for 15 rounds with nary a scratch. As an example, my bass player once ran the head full up (with out my knowing) direct thru a board with out the speaker in place. As anyone with half a brain knows ruuning an amp such as this with no load without a power brake would spell certain doom, but alas the Carvin walked away laughing. I've had this amp for close to 3 years now and it has gone thru many a long night live and it still has the original tubes in it.

Never needed it.

To keep a long story short, please see my Marshall JCM 900 2502 review. However, in short, this amp cannot be beat by some of those other guys. I bought this amp soley on word of mouth from one of our engineers in the studio who had one. I haven't looked back since.